The fiction and fantasy of Chad Anctil

The Shoggoths Next Door

Jeremy stared in horror out his second floor bedroom window at the house next door, the red ‘sold’ sign still swinging in the grassy front yard. He saw what looked like a long, black, slime-covered tentacle or some other alien appendage slip out of sight into the side door, then saw the door shut with a quick snap.
“Mom, I think our new neighbors might be monsters!” he called down the hallway. His mother poked her head out of the bathroom, yellow cleaning gloves on her hands.
“Jeremy that’s very rude. They’re brand new to the neighborhood and they moved here from someplace very far away. They may be different from us but I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Lovecraft are very nice people. You really need to be more polite – what would they think of us if they heard that kind of talk?”

The next day before school, Jeremy’s curiosity got the best of him. On his way to the bus stop, he crept up to the house and tried peeking into several of the lower windows, hoping for a glimpse of something through the unassuming beige curtains. At the last window, as he peered intently into the darkened house, something that looked like a greasy black tentacle thumped against the window and traveled slowly down with a sickly sliding motion. Jeremy shrieked and ran for all he was worth, his heart pounding as the monstrous vision replayed in his mind over and over. It couldn’t have been a tentacle, it couldn’t be. There had to be some kind of explanation. There were no monsters, not in the real world. That was all just make-believe, and he was almost eleven years old – too old to believe in monsters. He told himself that over and over as he stood waiting for the bus, but he couldn’t stop his legs from shaking.

Jeremy got home from school to see both his parents sitting in the kitchen. His father was chatting politely on the phone, but both parents had a concerned look on their faces and his mother gestured for him to come join them. His father hung up the phone with a sigh.
“Jeremy, that was the new neighbor, Mr. Lovecraft. Apparently you went over to his house this morning, snooping around and looking into windows?”
Jeremy sat speechless. The guilt was etched across his face – he didn’t need to answer.
“Jeremy that was incredibly rude – Mr. Lovecraft is highly upset by this invasion of privacy. I want you to go over there and apologize right now.”
“No!” Jeremy shrieked and backed away. “They’re not people in there, I saw them – they’re monsters..”
“Jeremy Michael Ames, you get back here right now!” his mother yelled, but Jeremy was already mounting the stairs two at a time. He slammed his bedroom door behind him and jumped on his bed, burying his face in his pillow.
“There’s no such thing as monsters, there’s no such thing as monsters.” he repeated to himself over and over again as he listened to his mother’s footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Jeremy what has gotten into you?” his mom asked as she sat on his bed. “This isn’t like you, you haven’t been afraid of monsters since you were a little boy. They’re just new neighbors, there’s nothing to be afraid of, there’s no such thing as monsters.”
“I saw them…” was all Jeremy could say through the lump of fear in his throat, when his mom’s cell phone rang.
“It’s your father.” she said as she looked at the caller ID. “He walked over to the Lovecraft’s house to apologize for you, since you made such a scene downstairs.”
“He what?!?” Jeremy asked in alarm.
“Shhh…” his mother said as she put the phone to her ear. “Oh, hello Mr. Lovecraft.” she said, and Jeremy could hear the wet, raspy voice coming from the other end of the phone. He didn’t understand how his mom could even understand what was being said. “Oh, sure, I’ll be right over, I’d love to meet you and your wife.” Another pause and more raspy, guttural sounds. “Well Jeremy isn’t feeling very well right now, but if he’s up to it I’ll bring him over too.”
Mom hung up. Jeremy was white and shaking.
“Why was Mr. Lovecraft calling from dad’s phone?” he asked in a small, quavering voice.
“Well, I’m sure it was just easier to call my number from speed dial dear.” his mom said. “I really think you should come over too, to get over this silly fear of yours…”
“No, please no.” Jeremy shook his head, terrified.
“Ok, ok, we’ll be back in a few minutes then. You just wait here.” his mom said, then left the room.

Jeremy heard his mother walk down the stairs, heard her leave through the front door. That was the last thing he heard until well after dark, when there was a soft, squishy sound coming from the yard. Coming from the front walkway. Opening the door. A wet, schlupping sound was coming up the stairs, a sound like wet mud dropping on cement.
“There’s no such thing as monsters, there’s no such thing as monsters.” he whispered to himself as his bedroom door swung slowly open.